Lý Tự Trọng

Lý Tự Trọng (20 October 1914 in Thailand – 21 November 1931 in Saigon; born Lê Hữu Trọng) was a Vietnamese revolutionary, executed by the French when he was only 17 years old. He is considered to be a revolutionary martyr. In 2010, his remains were identified in District 10, Ho Chi Minh City, and he was reburied in his parents' home town, the Việt Xuyên commune in the district of Thạch Hà.

On 9 February 1931, during a rally in Le Grand Park in Saigon, celebrating the anniversary of the Yên Bái uprising, Trọng used a firearm to shoot at anti-Communist French secret police. He did that to protect , who was speaking at the rally. There was a fear Phan Bôi would be assassinated, due to the inflammatory and Marxist-oriented content of his speech. He fled south as a fugitive. Trọng was arrested 10 days later in the town of Khám lớn Cần Thơ, about south-west of Saigon. He was brought back to Saigon, hastily tried by French officials, sentenced to death on 20 November 1931, and executed the next day.

The execution of Trọng sparked strong feelings of anger amongst Communists all over Vietnam toward the French leadership. Trọng was viewed as a martyr and his fate was seen as symbolic of French brutality.Khám Chí Hòa - Những chuyện đằng sau cửa ngục, Năng Lượng Mới

Lý Tự Trọng street in Saigon is named after him, replacing the street's original name, Gia Long street, given by the previous South Vietnamese government, commemorating the 18th century Vietnamese emperor who quashed the Tây Sơn rebels, unified and modernized Vietnam, and weakened French influence in the country. The street includes the former US AID building, famous as one of the locations of the helicopter evacuation U.S government employees during the Fall of Saigon in 1975.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ly, Tu Trong
Vietnamese nationalists
Vietnamese revolutionaries
1914 births
1931 deaths
Executed Vietnamese people
People executed by the French Third Republic by guillotine
Executed revolutionaries
Executed children